Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-05-13
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER Ill
MR.. FRANK MULLER.
John Mel woke early next morning, feeling
as sore and stiff az though he had been well
beaten and then strapped up tight in horse
girths He made shift, however, TO dress
himself, and then, with the help of "A stick,
limped through the French windows that
opened from his room on to the vcranda and
surveyed the scene before him. 1t was a do
lightful spot At the back of the house was
the steep, bowlder strcwn face of the flat
topped hill that curved round ON each side,
embosomng great slope of green, in the lap
of which the house was placed The house
itself was sol1ly built of brown stone, and,
with the exception of the wagon shed and
other outhouses, which were rooted with gal
vanized iron that shone and gllStencd in the
rays of the morning sun in way That would
have made an eagle blink, was covered with
rich brown thatch All along Its front ran a
wide veranda, up the trellis wo"l; Of which
green vines and blooming cIeepcrs traied
pleasantly, and beyond was the broad car
riage drive of red SOIL bordcrcd with bushy
orange trees laden with odorous flowers and
green and golden fruit. On the farther side
of the orange trees were the gardens fenced
in with low walls of rough stone, and the
orchard fun of standard fruit trees and
kraals, the latter full of long neclled birds,
To the right of the house grew thriving
plantations of blue gum and black waffle,
and to the left was a broad stretch of cult
waited lands, lying SO that they could be irri-
gated for winter crops by means OF water led
from the great spring that gushed from the
mountain side high above the house and gave
its name of Mooifontein to the place.
All these and many more things John Mel
saw as he looked out from the veranda at
Mooifontein but, for the moment any
rate, they were lost in the wild and wonderful
beauty of the panorama that rolled away for
miles and miles at his feet till it ended
by the mighty range of the Drakensberg to
the left, tipped here and there with snow,
and by the dim. and vast horizon of the swell
ing Transvaal plains to the right and far in
front of him. 1t was a beautiful sight, and
one to make the blood run in mans veins and
his heart beat happily because he was alive
to see it. Mile upon mile of grass clothed
veldt beneath, bending and ripping Ike a
corn field in the quick breath of the morning,
space upon space of deep blue sky overhead
with meier a cloud to dim it, and the swift
rush of the wind between. Then to the left
there impressive to look ON and conducive to
solemn thoughts, the mountains rear their
crests against the sky, and, crowned with the
gathered SHOWS of the centuries whose mOnu-
mentS they are, from aeon to inon gaze majes-
tiCally out over the wide plains and the
ephemeral ant like races that tread them, and
while they endure think themselves the mas
ters of their little world. And over all
mountain, PLAIN and flashing stream-the
glorious light Of the African sun and the
spirit of life moving now as it once moved
upon the darkening waters.
John stood and gazed at the untamed
beauty of the scene, III his mind comparing it
to many cultivated views that he had known,
and coming to the conclusion that, however
desirable the presence of civilized man might
be in the world, it could not be said that his
operations really added to its beauty. For
the old line, Mature unadorned adorned the
most, still remains true in more SENSES than
one Presently his reflections were inter
rupted by the step of Silas Croft which, not
withstandng his age and bent frame, still
rang firm enough--and he turned to greet
him
"Well, Capt Mel" said the old man, "up
already 1t looks well if you mean to take
to farming. Yes, it's a pretty view, and q
pretty place, too Well, | made it. Twenty
five years ago | rode up here and saw this
spot. Look, you see that rock there behind
the house, l slept under it and woke at sun
rise and looked out ut this beautiful view and
at the great veldt Gt was all alive with game
them, and | said to myself, ',Silas, for five
and twenty years have you wandered about
this great country, and now you are getting
tired of 1t; you've never seen fairer spot
than this or a healthier; now he a wise man
and stop here And so | did. | bought
5000 morgcn 5000 acres, more or less, for
glO down and Il case of gin, and
a work tn make this lllnt.- and